ASM submitted testimony to Congress regarding funding for agency budgets in fiscal year (FY) 2011 for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA) research and education programs, the Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) microbiology research programs and the National Science Foundation (NSF).  The following are the ASM budget recommendations.

NIH. ASM recommended that Congress approve at least an 8% increase for the NIH, to ensure continued progress in biomedical research and to keep pace with new opportunities and costs of research. ASM pointed out that in FY 2011, the NIH success rate will drop off significantly without an increase of at least 8%.

CDC. ASM recommended that Congress increase the budget for emerging infectious diseases at the CDC by at least 8 to 10%, to restore and strengthen funding for infectious disease prevention and control and other priority public health programs. ASM stated its concern over the administration's proposed elimination of funding (-$26.7 million) for vectorborne diseases, including West Nile virus, as well as its proposed reduction of $8.6 million to the antimicrobial resistance program. ASM disagreed with the proposed FY 2011 decreases for crucial CDC efforts at a time when drug-resistant pathogens continue to emerge in both the community and health care setting.

FDA. ASM urged Congress to consider increasing the FDA's budget above that requested by the president to a level of $2.857 billion. ASM stated that the administration's proposed budget of $2.5 billion represented an increase of about 6% over FY 2010 and was noteworthy after years of chronic underfunding. ASM proposed that two areas need particular attention at the FDA: one is to assure sufficient resources to continue efforts to transform agency approaches to food safety, and the second is to enable FDA to implement new mechanisms to enhance scientific expertise and capacity in key areas.

USDA. ASM endorsed the administration's proposed FY 2011 budget for USDA science and food safety programs, including $1.5 billion for the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and $1 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). ASM strongly endorsed the proposed $429 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) but urged Congress to work to fund AFRI at its fully authorized level of $700 million. ASM recommended that Congress fund the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) with at least $1.4 billion in FY 2011 to begin to regain the critical research capabilities lost with previous reductions.

NSF. ASM strongly supported the Administration's FY 2011 budget proposal for the NSF of $7.4 billion, an 8% increase over FY 2010. The ASM also supported the proposed budget for the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) of $767 million, or a 7.5% increase. Additionally, the ASM urged congress to fully fund the Geosciences Directorate (GEO) the Engineering Directorate (ENG), and the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate (MPS), with the Administration's proposed increases of 7.4, 11, and 4.3%, respectively.

DOE. ASM supported the Administration's FY 2011 budget of $5.1 billion for the DOE Office of Science, a 4.4% increase from FY 2010. The ASM urged Congress to continue the Administration's pledge to double DOE Office of Science funding by 2017.

EPA. ASM urged Congress to fund the EPA's science and technology programs with at least $888 million, a 5% increase, to allow for inflation and program growth. The administration's proposed budget for FY11 reflected a troubling 0.11% decrease. ASM strongly supported a budget of $87.2 million for the STAR program, a $26 million increase, and urged Congress to fully fund this imperative grants program.

To read ASM's testimony, go to http://www.asm.org/fy2011funding.